The present invention relates to a toy that makes it possible to play with a character that is displayed on a screen in accordance with a game program.
Conventionally, house toys that make it possible to play dolls, for example, are known as toys that are constituted to cause a game to progress in accordance with a game program (see Japanese Patent No. 3285827 (pages 2 to 4, FIG. 1a). Such house toys have furniture such as a desk, bed, piano, or the like, and electronic components such as a telephone, microwave, electric light, or the like, provided in a main body together with signal production means for the sound, speech, and light and so forth corresponding with each electrical component. A switch for turning the signal production means ON or OFF is provided inside the electrical components or in the vicinity thereof. Further, in a process in which the game progresses in accordance with the game program, the player is provided with instructions by the signal production means and it is possible to judge whether the player has followed the instructions by sensing the ON or OFF of the switch. The house toy causes the game to progress in accordance with the game program and, therefore, various scenes can be provided in the main body of one house toy and the player can be provided with play that corresponds with each scene.
However, with these house toys, the player must play by directly holding the doll's body. A virtual life form nurturing simulation apparatus has been proposed (See Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. H10-232595 (pages 5 to 7, pages 10 to 11, FIGS. 1 and 2) as an apparatus that makes it possible to play with a character while viewing a screen without directly holding the doll's body. With the virtual life form nurturing simulation apparatus, a virtual life form is displayed on a screen as a character and, as a result of the player responding to and dealing with the calls and requests and so forth from the virtual life form on the screen, the virtual life form can be allowed to grow while being disciplined and trained.
In the case of the virtual life form nurturing simulation apparatus, the virtual life form is displayed on the screen as a character and the player is able to play with the virtual life form while viewing the screen by responding to the calls and requests and so forth from the virtual life form on the screen.
However, even when the virtual life form is displayed on the screen, the movements of the virtual life form cannot be made adequately realistic.